Book One: Water
by MidnightWolf191
Summary: Jade is on the run from the Fire Nation. She meets the Gaang and they take her in with varying opinions on the matter. Aang is excited, he will have someone to teach him how to have agility without air bending, Katara is alright with it, there is another girl, Sokka isn't pleased, at all. Takes place in The Waterbending Scroll. Maybe Sokka/OC in later chapters. Cover is Jade.


**This isn't my first ATLA fic, but it is my first multi chapter. Anyway, please review, this has an OC in it but focuses during the series. The story starts in the episode, The Waterbending Scroll. Give it a chance! If you don't like it, at least leave a review telling me how horrible you think it is!**

**The only Avatar I own is the disc set.**

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My name is Jade, and somehow, someway, this world will not be completely controlled by the Fire Nation, not if my friends and I can help it.

You might be a little confused, so I'll start at the beginning, the day I first my friends Aang, Katara, and Sokka.

(_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_)

I'm originally from the Fire Nation, and my looks can help testify that. I have long black hair that I tie back in a pony tail, if I don't it goes down to my waist. My bangs also slightly cover my right eye. I normally wear a black shirt and pants, along with worn leather boots. I always have my dual katana swords strapped to my waist so if I ever need to fight, I won't have to use my bending. I carry a small black bag that holds two sets of clothes, one for the Earth Nation, one for the Fire Nation. My black clothing can blend in anywhere among the colonies, but if I were to ever enter the Fire Nation or one of the Earth Kingdom's, I would need better clothing. The bag also carries two daggers, one that was my father's, it has two symbols on it. One Fire Nation insignia, the other a lotus tile. The other dagger is just a simple back dagger that I carved a unity symbol on, the unity symbol is four symbols together, the Water, Fire, Air, and Earth insignias with a circle around them.

I was walking down one of the market places for travelers from all nations. There were thugs, pirates (hardly a difference), and some merchants hoping to make a buck. I saw a kid in orange and yellow clothing, along with two teenagers, around my age, wearing traditional water tribe clothing. I decided to tail them, they seem strange.

After they had gotten some supplies, the girl and younger boy were sitting on one of the empty stalls when the older teen, who I learned was Sokka, walked up to them with a bag slung across his shoulder. "We've got exactly three copper pieces from the money King Bumi gave us, spend it wisely." Something about the way he is acting tells me that he is the oldest, therefore the leader in most nations.

"Uh, make that two copper pieces Sokka, I couldn't say no to this whistle." The younger boy said abashedly, holding up what seemed to be a bison whistle. I giggled silently, I may be fifteen, but this was kind of hilarious.

The younger boy blew on the whistle and barely any sound came out, I had to strain myself to hear it from the stall next to them. "It doesn't even work!" Sokka said and the lemur thing that was on the younger boy's shoulder squawked at the whistle irritatedly and I giggled again. "Even Momo thinks it's a piece of junk." Sokka said gesturing toward the lemur, who I'm guessing is named Momo. The younger boy developed a solemn expression and the girl looked at him and frowned slightly, I can tell that she felt a little sorry for the boy.

"No offense Aang, but I'll hold the money from now on." The girl said, now I know that the younger boy's name is Aang, and the older one is Sokka, but I still don't know who the girl is! It's a little frustrating referring to her as 'the girl.'

Aang pulled money out of his belt and handed it to the girl to keep, and they started walking toward the port area where the pirates gather and multiple merchants sell from their own boats so they don't have to pay for a stall.

"Earth Nation, Fire Nation, Water Nation, so long as bargains are you inclination, your welcome here!" A pirate dressed in Earth Nation colors was yelling at the top of his lungs at possible customers. I was concealed from view in the shadows out here, but it would be hard to hide inside of a boat. I guees I'll just have to casually stalk them and act like a regular customer. "Don't be shy, come on by!" The pirate yelled and I am one rhyme away from cutting his vocal chords right here in broad daylight. "You there," he yelled, running toward Aang, Sokka, and the girl, "I can see from your clothing that your the world traveling types. Perhaps I can interest you in some exotic curios?" At least he didn't rhyme this time.

"Sure! What are curios?" Aang says, practically jumping up and down with excitement and I smile softly, he reminds me of the brother I have always wanted.

"I'm not entirely sure... But we got 'em!" The pirate says, wrapping an arm around Aamg's shoulders and leading him toward the boat with Sokka and the girl following.

I slip onto the boat just after them and see the girl staring strangely at a stone monkey with rubies around it's neck and on it's eyes. That thing is creepy, end of story. As everyone looks at the merchandise, I busy myself with looking through the sword collection, I have no intention of buying anything, but the pirates don't need to know that.

"I've never seen such a fine specimen of lemur. That beast would fetch me a hefty sum if you would be interested in bartering." A pirate, most likely the captain, says to Aang, and I take a peek around some shelving to see what is going on, pretending to examine a dagger with many different carvings on the handle, one I recognize is the Earth Nation insignia. The reptile bird on his shoulder squawks loudly, making Momo hiss and cuddle into Aang.

"Momo's not for sale." Aang says, protectively holding onto Momo. I look around the boat and see the girl pick up what looks like an advanced water bending scroll, looking at the sketches intensely, as if trying to brand them into her memory.

The girl gets a breathtaking smile on her face and says, "look at this Aang!"

_Maybe I might get to finally know her name, _I think to myself and smirk, putting the dagger back on the shelf and looking at the monkey thing again. "It's a waterbending scroll!" She says excitedly and I furrow my eyebrows, why was she so excited over a stupid scroll? It's not like she can afford it. "Check out these crazy moves." She says, again, looking at the scroll as if it could solve the world's problems.

"Where did you get a water bending scroll?" Aang asks the captain, before the captain smacks his hand over the scroll and rolls it up.

"Let's just say I got it up north, at a most reasonable price, free." The pirate says smirking and I scoff, looking away from the monkey statue thing that I was having a staring contest with. I decide to look at the boomerang collection and roll my eyes. Every time I throw a boomerang, it ends up knocking me out. The pirate puts the scroll back where the girl got it.

"Wait a minute. Sea loving traders, with suspiciously acquired merchandise, and pet reptile birds! You guys are pirates!" Sokka exclaims, spitting on the rhyming pirate when he yells.

"We like to think of ourselves as high risk traders." The rhyming pirate says, hooking an arm around Sokka's shoulders.

"So how much for the, uh, traded scroll?" The girl asks the captain, looking down at the two coppers pieces in her hand and back to the captain.

"Already got a buyer, nobleman in the Earth Kingdom. Unless you kids have 200 gold pieces on ya right now?" The captain asks, once again smirking cockily and I roll my eyes at his arrogance.

"I know how to deal with these guys Katara, pirates love to haggle." Aang says to, finally I know her name, Katara, holding out his hand for the copper pieces, which Katara puts in his hand with a straight face. "Watch and learn." He says strolling up to the captain. "Let's say to the price of, one copper piece!" Aang says doing a cool trick with his hand and the coin. I raise my eyebrow and lean against a wall in the back of the room on the ship, barely out of sight, but out of sight nonetheless. This could get interesting.

The captain laughs obnoxiously, "the price is 200 hundred gold pieces, I don't haggle on items this rare." The pirate states with a cocky sneer on his face and I smile softly and shake my head at Aang's confidence, but I know they aren't getting that scroll unless they do something stupid.

"Okay, two copper pieces!" Aang says again and I chuckle, not so silently this time but nobody notices, when Aang holds out the copper pieces between four of his fingers.

"It's not as amusing the second time boy!" The captain says, leaning over the desk he was standing behind to prove his point. Aang gets an angry look on his face and I smile again, noting how grown up yet childish he looks.

"Aang can we get out of here? I feel like we're getting weird looks." Katara suggests, I guess I wasn't as subtle as I thought I was.

"Aye, we be casting off now!" Aang says in a fake pirate voice and before they get off of the ship, I slip out silently, waiting to find out which direction they were going in.

"What was that all about Katara?" Aang asks her while they get off of the ship.

"Yeah, I was just starting to browse through their boomerang collection." Sokka says and I follow them as they head down the road, sneaking through shadows just in case they saw me on the ship.

"I'll just feel a lot better once we get away from here." Katara says, wrapping her arms around herself and looking around.

"Hey you! Get back here!" The rhyming pirate yells, running across the ship.

"Well well, look who's come to their senses." Aang says looking back at the ship with a smirk on his face, Sokka and Aang don't see Katara slowly backing away. "Told you the haggling would pay off."

Multiple pirates jump off of the ship and I barely hold in my gasp. Unless smeone stole something, they wouldn't react this way, and I have a feeling I know who stole what.

"Get 'em!"

"Nobodies going nowhere!" I hear multiple pirates murmur among the small crowd they had formed. I stay among the shadows so no one sees me, I know for a fact the rhyming pirate had looked at me suspiciously while I was on the ship.

"I don't think those pirates are here to trade with us!" Katara says uneasily before they all take off into a run, leaving the pirates and I dashing after them. I climb on top of the stalls and run along the roofs so I don't get caught in the crosshairs.

"This way! Let's cut 'em off!" The rhyming pirate says, splitting the group of pirates into two groups of pirates.

They round a corner and Katara waterbends some water onto the street before freezing it, making one of the pirates fall while the other three members of the group are still chasing them. Up ahead, I see an older man cuddling with a cabbage, and murmuring to it. I make a face and keep running. Sokka runs into the cabbage cart, making three of them fall, making the man catch them before touching the ground, Katara bumps into it as well, knocking off two more cabbages before running off. Aang jumps clean over the cart before waving the staff behind him, completely destroying the cart and making it knock the three pirates pursuing them several several yards away.

"My cabbages!" The man yells with his hands on top of his head. And I snicker, before realizing what it was that I just witnessed. Aang just airbended. The only airbender left is the avatar. Aang is the avatar. Holy shit. I get a huge smile on my face before I concentrate back on running after these guys. "This place is worse than Omashu!"

I jump onto another roof and keep running after them, something tell me this will end badly, there is no way to get out of here, it's a dead end.

"Now, who wants to taste the steel of my blade first?" The rhyming pirate asks with a sneer, and I scoff, this guy is no better than any other pirate. A sleazy jerk waiting to either steal, bargain, or murder anyone in the way.

"No thanks." Aang says, doing some kind of airbending that sends a huge gust of wind to the pirates, effectively knocking them on their asses. Excuse my language.

"Grab on tight!" Aang says, making the staff turn into a glider and flying low to the ground.

"Aang! I thought we were running away from the pirates!" Katara yells after her and Sokka grab onto the glider, which was sailing toward the pirates. I follow slowly behind, hoping that they don't spot me.

"Just hang on!" Aang says to the teenagers attached to the back end of his glider, and I smirk, still moving slowly and deliberately across the roof of the stalls.

Katara and Sokka scream before Aang makes them soar into the sky. I sneak across the roof, making sure the pirates don't see me, and follow after them. I follow them to a beautiful waterfall with trees surrounding it. By the time I get there, I am panting heavily, the result of running all the way here. I take a canteen out of my bag and gulp down some water that I had bought beforehand, my dry tongue thanking me.

"I used to kinda look up to pirates, but those guys are terrible." Aang says leaning against a rock about five feet away from the tree I'm in, I'm lucky the forest area of this place is dark, or else they would have spotted me by now.

"I know, that's why I took this." Katara says with a smug expression on her face, holding out the water bending scroll. I undo my hair and retie it, a nervous habit, and roll my eyes. If you steal from pirates, nothing good comes from it.

"No way." Aang says with a worried look on his face. I can't really blame the kid.

"Isn't it great?" Katara asks excitedly looking at Aang.

"No wonder they were trying to hack us up! You stole their water bending scroll!" Sokka exclaims with a disapproving look and tone.

"I prefer to think of it as high risk trading." Katara says, crossing her arms and wearing a cocky expression. I chuckle, it may have been a stupid move, but I like the way she handles this.

Aang laughs lightly, "good one, Katara!"

"Sokka, where do you think they got it?" Katara asks him, and I laugh a little too loudly, though they are too locked into their argument to notice. Aang looks around, eyes staying on me more than any part of the woods an I tense, ready to get the hell away from here. He just shrugs and turns back to the arguing siblings, that's what I'm guessing they are, it's a little obvious.

"They stole it from a water bender!" Katara states, probably more than a little frustrated at her brother.

"It doesn't matter! You put all of our lives in danger just so you could learn some stupid, fancy splashes!" Sokka retorts, they both have valid points if you think about it.

"These are real water bending forms! You know how crucial it is for Aang to learn water bending!" Katara says, angrily holding up the scroll. I look between the siblings and sigh, something tells me that they argue like this all the time.

Sokka scoffs, "whatever." Very eloquently put Sokka. He walks in the other direction angrily and I watch him as he sharpens his boomerang, that thing would kill me if I ever threw it.

"Well, what's done is done. We have it, we might as well learn from it." Aang says calmly. He's got a point, I guess being the avatar the kid has all kinds of wisdom.

After a couple of minutes Aang and Katara are looking at the scroll. "I just wanna try this one move first and then it's all yours. Here, hold it open for me." Katara says, back away from the scroll and toward the river. "The single water whip, looks doable." Katara bends a string of water and she does a movement, but instead of doing what she wants it too, the water hits her in the forehead.

Sokka laughs heartily and I chuckle, "what's so funny?" Katara asks accusingly that makes me snicker.

"I'm sorry but, you deserved that." Sokka says to Katara, he turns to Aang, "you've been dooped, she's only interested in teaching herself."

"Aang will get his turn once I figure out the water whip!" Katara says angrily before bending a stream of water and accidentally bending it backwards, whipping Momo in the ass. Have I mentioned before that I have a bad habit of saying ass?

Momo screeches angrily, "ugh, why can't I get this stupid move?" Katara asks clenching her fists, even more frustrated than she was before.

"You'll get it, you just gotta shift your weight through the stances." Aang explains, forming a perfect water whip, though he doesn't use it so he let's it splash back into the river. "There, see the key to bending is -"

"Will you please shut your air hole?! Believe it or not your infinite wisdom get's a little old sometimes! Why don't we just throw the scroll away since your so naturally gifted?!" Katara yells at Aang, cutting him off. I believe that this outburst is due to the green monster rearing his ugly head, happens to the best of us. Sokka gives her a chastising look. "What?!" She yells at him. She turns toward Aang, who's eyes were starting to tear up and she says, calmer this this time, "oh my gosh Aang, I'm so sorry. I don't know what came over me, but you know what? It won't happen again, here this is yours. I don't want anything to do with it anymore." She says rolling up the scroll and handing it to Aang.

"It's okay Katara." Aang replies quietly, taking the offered scroll.

"What about Momo? He's the real victim here." Sokka says, gesturing toward the lemur who was rubbing his behind pathetically.

"I'm sorry Momo." Katara says softly, patting Momo's ears.

"And what about me? There was that time you-" Sokka states.

"No more apologies!" Katara yells at Sokka, making Momo jump away, clearly frightened by her outburst.

"I'm going to go for a walk, see if I can find any berries." Aang says to Sokka and Katara.

"You need some help?" Katara asks him, looking away from the river to look at Aang.

"No thanks Katara, bye Sokka!" Aang says cheerfully and Sokka just looks up from his boomerang, nods, and looks back at it. Since nothing is happening, I turn around in the tree, leaning my back against it, and rest my eyes before they decide to move again.

"Why are you spying on us?" I yelp and grab onto the tree branch I was sitting on, and see Aang sitting on the branch next to mine. He offers a hand to pull me up, I find steady footing before I grab it and let him help me back onto my branch. "Well?" He asks, clearly trying to decide if I am a threat or not. He eyes my swords wearily and I sigh.

"Don't make me blow you out of this tree." He states calmly, and I can see that if he has to, he will make me fall out of this tree.

"Because I felt like it." I say, hoping that he will take that as an answer. Besides, it's not a lie, not really.

"Do you work for Zuko?" He asks and I can see him shifting, clearly ready to defend himself.

"No. I'm one of the good guys." I say hoping that he will leave it at that.

"If your one of the good guys, why didn't you introduce yourself?" Aang asks me, somewhat relaxing his posture.

"It would look a little suspicious, me introducing myself and saying I'm not one of the bad guys." I say to Aang, who is now leaning against the tree.

"It looks more suspicious when your spying on us." He points out and I laugh.

"You have a point, Avatar." I say calmly and he looks at me strangely.

"How do you know that?" He asks me, slightly more on guard but not as much as before.

"I was there when you were attacked by pirates, and I saw you air bend." I say shrugging nonchalantly.

"Oh! Do you want to come with us?" Aang asks suddenly and I look at him like he just grew feathers. What was this kid thinking, for all he knows I could be a spy or something! I'm not, but that doesn't mean that he should just ask if I would want to come with him!

"Avatar-"

"Call me Aang!" He says cheerfully.

"Aang, you don't know me, why are you inviting me along?" I ask him instead, hoping that he might change his mind.

"You're Fire Nation, right?" He asks me and I nod slowly. "That means you can teach me how to fire bend!" He says this like it explains everything.

"Kid, just because I know how to fire bend doesn't mean I'm able to teach you." I say softly, hoping he and I will go our seperate ways. "And either way, I'm on the run from the Fire Nation, you wouldn't want me to slow you guys down." I explain my main reluctance, knowing that if he get's caught because of me I might just die of guilt if the Fire Nation doesn't execute me first.

"So? I'm on the run too, and your really fast if you could keep up with me on my glider and climb a tree without letting us know you're there. You could teach me how to hide better if and be quieter if you can't teach me to bend." Aang says, again, trying to get me to travel with him.

"Aang, I can't come with you."

"You can and you are, if you don't come willingly I will stuff you in a bag until the war is over." Aang says seriously.

"Why do you want me to come with you?" I ask him hopelessly, throwing my hands in the air.

"You could be useful, and if we go into the Fire Nation you can help us blend in." He says excitedly.

"Fine, I'll come with you, but if your friends tell me to leave, I'm leaving." I say seriously and he nods happily.

"Okay! Wait, what's your name?" He asks me and I chuckle.

"Jade." I reply. He nods happily before sliding down the tree and motioning for me to climb down. I leap from branch to branch until I am close enough to the ground, I jump off my branch and land on my feet almost silently. We walk to their camp and I look at the huge sky bison that was out of my view. I cock an eyebrow before jogging to catch up with Aang's excited steps.

"Guys! Come here!" He yells to Katara and Sokka who were having a water fight. They look over at us and I immediately avert my eyes so they can't see the color. I look at the ground as they approach us.

"Guys, this is Jade, I think she might be able to help us!" Aang says excitedly and Sokka looks at me with a raised eyebrow and a doubtful expression. "Jade, this is Katara and Sokka." He says gesturing to them.

"How can you help us?" Sokka asks accusingly and I shift from foot to foot before looking up at him through my bangs. He gasps and says, "Aang, she's Fire Nation! She could kill us all in our sleep!"

"Sokka, I know she's Fire Nation, but that doesn't mean she'll hurt us." Aang says calmly and I look back at the ground, knowing that I will be leaving within the hour.

"Aang could be right Sokka, just hear him out." Katara says in my defense and I look up in surprise. She smiles softly at me and I return it before she looks back at her brother and says, "not many Fire Nation don't wear the colors."

"Fine. Why don't you wear the colors, _Jade._" Sokka sneers my name and I clear my throat before looking up.

"I don't wear the colors because I'm not Fire Nation anymore. I'm a fugitive because I stood for what I believe in." I shrug at Katara and Aang who were looking at me with smiles. Sokka changed his sneer into a small frown.

"Fine, you can stay, but if you make it look like we can't trust you, you leave. Okay?" He states clearly not completely trusting me, I nod and Aang smiles even bigger before Katara nods and rolls her eyes. She gestures for me to follow her and I comply, knowing that she won't do anything unless I give her a reason to.

We walk toward the sky bison and she turns toward me. "I'm sorry about Sokka, he just doesn't trust Fire Nation." She explains. "This is Appa." She says rubbing Appa's head where the arrow is.

"Not many people trust the Fire Nation, it's fine that Sokka doesn't trust me." I shrug taking a step toward Appa. I hold my hand out to him and he sniffs it before licking my arm.

"Sorry about Appa, he's not very good with personal space, but we love him anyway." Katara says nudging Appa with her elbow playfully. "So, where in the Fire Nation are you from?" She asks me after sitting down and leaning against Appa.

"Capitol City." I mumble, not knowing how she would react.

"So, you're supposed to be a noblewoman?" She asks me gently and I sigh.

"No, my mom was a servant for Firelord Ozai and my father was the royal trainer, he taught the prince how to fire bend," I say taking a breath, "when I was 7 I was put to work, I would help the chef cook meals and do the dishes, sometimes I tended to the garden."

"So, you were like a servant?" Katara asks me with an odd look in her eye.

"Not like a servant, I was a servant." I say looking at her dead in the eyes.

"I'm so sorry Jade, but if you were a servant, why did you leave? I mean, isn't the Firelord supposed to give the live in servants food?" Katara asks me, tilting her head and scrunching up her eyebrows.

"Technically yes, but Ozai normally only let the servants eat leftovers. I left because I didn't agree with what the Fire Nation was doing, and neither did my parents. Can we leave it at that, please?" I ask her, noting how the sky was beginning to darken and my grumbling stomach.

"Sure, either way it's time for me to make dinner, come on, I'm sure Sokka's done with his tantrum." She says, standing and grabbing my hand before pulling me to where the boys are.

"Sokka, that wood is damp, there's no way that we'll get a fire started with it." I hear Aang say, I also hear Sokka's grumbled curses and I smirk. Who knew that Sokka could get worked up over something so small as damp fire wood?

"Hey Jade, maybe you could help Sokka out while I put water in the pot?" Katara suggests and I nod, walking toward the guys.

"Hey Jade!" Aang says happily and I smile at him, nodding. "Could you light this? Sokka's taking forever." Aang says, making Sokka head shoot up and glare at him. I chuckle and nod, taking a step forward and kneel down next to the wood.

"Do you mind if I try, Sokka?" I ask him, hoping that he will stop just thinking of me as Fire Nation.

"Go ahead." He replies curtly before leaning back. I light a small fire in the palm of my hand before putting it underneath the wood. A small flame catches and I take my hand out from underneath it, I extinguish the fire in my hand before making the campfire bigger.

"Wow Jade, that was fast." Katara says holding a pot of something which she puts over the fire to boil. When the food was done we all ate before cleaning our dishes and setting into our sleeping bags. I left the fire going for warmth and settled with my blanket, unstrapping my katanas and laying them next to me, using my bag as a pillow.

I hear movement and see Katara grabbing the water bending scroll from her brother's bag and sneaking away from the campsite. I watch her with a small smirk on my face and wait until she is out of sight before I get up and strap my katanas back on my waist, getting the dagger my father gave me from my bag and strapping it on my belt where the katanas are. Just in case.

I decide to hide in the trees, my black clothes easily disguising me in the night, and I watch as Katara tries and fails at making the single water whip multiple times. "Shoot! Come on water work with me here!" She yells at the, you guessed it, water and I chuckle slightly. "Okay Katara, shift your weight through the stances." She mumbles and I smile, knowing that she was remembering Aang's lesson from earlier in the day.

I see smoke and turn toward the source, two ships. Katara gasps and runs the other drection. I recognize the ships, turns out, the Fire Nation has found the Avatar, I can't wait for them to fail again. Katara runs straight into a well muscled pirate that, if he weren't a pirate would've been attractive, grabs her by the shoulders. "No! Let go of me!" Katara yells at him, bending a stream of water into his face and making him let go of her and stumble back I smirk and stick my tongue out at the pirate, knowing that he can't see me.

"I'll save you from the pirates." A guy, sixteen years old maybe, says as he grabs Katara's wrists. This guy looks familiar, clearly Fire Nation. If the shaved head and ponytail weren't enough. He takes Katara to shore and I follow silently through the trees, though every now and then my foot catches on a branch and wiggles it.

"Tell me where he is, and I won't hurt you or your brother." Ponytail Dude says and I get that nigging feeling in the back of my mind that I have met this guy before.

"Go jump in the river!" Katara replies, obviously angry at him. I snicker slightly, I would've used a few choice words, but her response clearly stated that this man is not her friend.

"Try to understand, I need to capture him to restore something I've lost, my honor." Ponytail Dude says, a little softer while circling the tree that Katara was tied to. Katara faces away from him the whole time, and I smirk. "Perhaps in exchange I can restore something you've lost." Ponytail Dude says leaning in really close to Katara's ear and I shudder, disgusted. Fire Nation soldiers are not above the unspeakable, but I hope this one is. He holds up an engagement necklace, clearly water tribe.

"My mother's necklace!" Katara gasps, following the necklace with her eyes. "How did you get that?" She asks Ponytail Dude accusingly and I feel boiling rage fill me at the thought of someone stealing my one prized possesion, like what the necklace was to Katara. My hands heat up slightly and I take a few deep breaths, calming down so I don't give away my position.

"I didn't steal it if that's what you were wondering." Is this dude a mind reader? "Tell me where he is!" Ponytail Dude demands. I scoff and roll my eyes, something about Katara says that she would rather die than tell him Aang is, and that's why I'm here, just in case.

"No!" Katara shouts and I smile proudly.

"Enough of this necklace garbage, you promised a scroll!" The captain tells Ponytail Dude angrily and I smirk.

Ponytail Dude grabs the scroll from his belt and lights a fire in his hand. "I wonder how much money this is worth. A lot apparently. Now you help me find what I what, and you get this back everyone goes home happy. Search the woods for the boy and meet back here." Ponytail Dude orders, still holding the scroll above the open flame.

"Fine." The captain says grumpily and I laugh, a little too loudly, because Ponytail Dude's head snaps in my direction. My eyes grow wide and I leap from tree to tree, hoping to get away. I hear footsteps below me and I stop all movement, there are two sets of footsteps, one heavier, the other lighter somehow. I look down, it's Ponytail Dude and one of his guards. "You go that way, look in the trees, meet back if you find her." Ponytail Dude orders and the armor wearing soldier guy, long nickname I know, walks in the direction ordered. My foot slips on the bark of the tree and I tumble off, about three feet ahead of Ponytail Dude.

"What do we have here?" He asks himself, I try to get up but my ankle is twisted and I can't stand, let alone heave myself off of the ground. He reaches toward me and I scramble away, I kick at him with my good leg but he catches it, he grabs my arms and drags me back to the place where he tied up Katara, I try to fight but it's useless, this dude has a strong grip and it's like hitting a bolder.

"Jade?" Katara gasps as she sees me getting tied up to the same tree.

"Jade?" Ponytail Dude asks with a softer tone than before and I look at him.

"How do you know my name?" I hiss at him, knowing by the way he said it that we knew each other.

"Your dad taught me how to fire bend." He states and I sigh. No wonder I knew this guy, it was Prince Zuko. I ran from the capital about a week after he was banished, when I was twelve. "Why are you with the Avatar? You should be back at the palace!"

"No, if I was back in the Fire Nation I would be dead, thank you for telling me, once again, how I should live my life." I hiss at him, knowing that when he was still in the pallace I was his favorite servant to boss around.

He glares and turns away when multiple pirates enter the area with Sokka and Aang. "Nice work." Zuko tells the pirates while holding onto the scroll.

"Aang, this is all my fault." Katara says apologetically while I heat up my hands, hoping to burn through the rope.

"No Katara, it isn't." Aang says to her.

"Yeah it kind of is." Iroh tell her. No one, not even me, is able to forget Iroh.

"Give me the boy!" Zuko states, still gripping the scroll tightly and glaring at them.

"You give us the scroll." The captain states calmly. This might take a while. I better speed things up.

"Trading the Avatar for a stu[pid scroll? That's really smart."I say sarcastically, hoping that someone will get where I'm going with this.

"Your really going to hand over the Avatar for a stupid piece of parchment?" Sokka asks.

I add, "now that's plain old cruel, Ponytail gets the Avatar and honor within the whole ire Nation, you guys get 200 gold pieces. That's a real fair trade you got ging there."

"Don't listen to them! They're trying to turn us against each other!" Zuko states, pointing in the pirates' direction for no apparent reason.

"Your friend is the avatar?" The captain asks Sokka, before turning to face Aang. I'm still working at the ropes, but it's not easy because if I move too fast I might burn Katara.

"Sure is, and I bet he'll fetch a lot more on the black market than a fancy scroll." Sokka replies helpfully and I smile a bit, knowing that he just bought us some time.

"Shut your mouth, you water tribe peasant!" Zuko orders and I scoff, he glares in my direction and I raise an eybrow, he turns back toward the group and I get back to work.

"Yeah Sokka, you really should shut your mouth." Aang says, clearly worried about what's going to happen. I snicker at his uneasiness.

"I'm just saying, it's bad buisness sense, just imagine how much the Firelord would pay for the avatar." Sokka continues and the pirates around him get joyful smiles on their faces and I chuckle. "You guys would be set for life!"

"Keep the scroll, we can buy a hundred with what we'll get for the kid." The captain states, walking away from Zuko and his men with Sokka and Aang still tied up.

"You'll regret breaking a deal with me." Zuko states angrily as he and two of his guards fire bend toward the pirates making the group fly. I stare at them, still working on the ropes, but I can tell it'll take a while before they come loose, mainly because I'm working on them backwards.

A fight ensues, the pitates throw smoke bombs so no one can see, and Momo climbs down Katara and I's tree, untying the ropes. "Thanks Momo, we owe you a bushel of apples!" Katara thanks the lemur and I smile at it.

"Let's go kick some ass!" I state, lighting a flame in my hand and Katara smiles at me.

"Let's do this!" She exclaims and we run to the smoke together. I unsheathed my dagger, it will be better in a fight like this. We make it out of the smoke and Katara motions toward the boat. We start pushing and moments later, Sokka and Aang emerge from the smoke.

"Katara, Jade, you guys are okay!" Aang yells, running toward us with Sokka jogging slowly behind.

"Help us get this boat in the water so we can get out of here!" Katara states and I look at the smoke cloud, noticing that no one has noticed our disappearance. Sokka and Aang run toward us and start pushing the boat.

After a few seconds of pushing, we all let go and stare at it. "We need a team of rhinos to budge this ship!" Sokka yells and I snicker. "What?" He asks me.

"Your so optimistic Sokka." I state sarcastically and look back at the ship.

"Team of rhinos, or two water benders." Aang says helpfully, looking to Katara. Together they get the ship off of the shore and I smile gratefully. Now I won't have to push two tons of stolen merchandise all day.

"Everybody on board!" Katara shouts and we all scramble onto the ship wile everyone is too busy fighting to notice.

"Sokka, can't you make this thing go faster?" Aang asks worriedly and I notice the pirates have stolen Zuko's ship and is sailing after us. I curse under my breath, will it be like this all the time, or is this a special occasion?

"I don't know how! This thing wasn't made by the Water Tribe!" Sokka yells from his place at the wheel and I frown. I head toward the wheel and take a look at the boat. "Got any ideas?" He asks me and I frown.

"Maybe Aang and Katara could make it go faster by water bending it." I suggest, not really knowing how this ship sails other than the sails.

When pirates climb aboard, Aang water bends a wave of water onto them, knocking them off of the boat. I set my hands ablaze just in case pirates get any smart ideas. One of the pirates stays on board and Katara whips water at him, effectively knocking him off. "Hey! You did the water whip!" Aang says encouragingly and I smile at them.

"I couldn't have done it without your help!" Katara replies and I just now notice that Sokka is trapped in between the rhyming pirate and a big muscular one with a mustache. I fire at the rhyming pirate's feet and he jumos back, making Sokka's legs hook around his neck.

"Will you two quit congratulating each other and help me out!" Sokka yells at them and I take a step back, firing another fireball at the pirates' feet, making them get closer to the edge.

The pirates throw Sokka onto a sail and he plummets onto the ship. Aang swoops in and knocks both of the pirates off of the ship using his bending. I applaud and he smiles before we go to the railing to see if Sokka is okay. Aang jumps down next to Sokka and I see that we are about to tumble over a waterfall. "Aang! Look!" Katara shouts worriedly and I worry my bottom lip between my teeth. Katara looks at me and I shrug hopelessly.

"Have you lost your mind, now is no time for flute practice!" I hear Sokka yell while Katara and I are staring, wide eyed, at the waterfall.

"We can stop the boat! Aang together, push and pull the water!" Katara yells. Her and Aang get into their stances, pushing an pulling the water. "It's working, it's slowing down!" Katara yells joyously and I do a fist pump while standing off to the side. "We're doing it!"

"But have another problem!" Sokka states and I turn around only to see the Fire Nation boat behind us. It rams into us, making the boat rock and all of us slide to the edge. "Jump!" Sokka yells and we all grab each others hands. I'm holding onto Sokka's hand while he holds onto Aang who is holding onto Katara. When I started to stalk them, I did not expect to die by waterfall. About halfway down I see Appa flying toward us and I get a happy smile on my face. He catches us and I cheer. Knowing that it was a very close call, we let go of each others hands and I look to the edge of Appa's saddle.

"I knew a bison whistle would come in hndy." Aang states triumphantly and I smile in his direction. I rifle through my bag to make sure I have everything. Katanas, around my waist. Dad's dagger, with my katanas. Earth Nation clothes, check. Fire Nation clothes, check. Canteen, check. Food and berry bag, check. My dagger, check.I turn my attention back toward the group when I am satisfied. "Thanks Appa."

"Yeah, we owe you one." Sokka tells Appa, that rhymed. Appa groans is agreement and I laugh, patting his side over the saddle.

After a few moments of silence, Katara breaks it. "Aang, I still owe you an apology. You were just so good at water bending without even trying, I got so competitive that I put us all in danger. I'm sorry." Katara tells Aang and I hold back any and all sarcastic remarks.

"That's okay Katara." Aang says simply.

"Besides, who needs that stupid scroll anyway." She says almost sadly and I look to Sokka, I had seen him take the scroll from one of the pirates.

"Is that really how you feel?" Sokka asks her, holding out the scroll.

"The scroll!" Katara gasps, reaching for it excitedly and I laugh at her response.

Sokka jerks the scroll out of reach and asks, "first, what did you learn?"

"Stealing is wrong." Sokka hands her the scroll with a pleased look, "unless it's from pirates." She adds once she has taken the scroll from him.

Aang and I laugh loudly, "good one Katara!" Aang says and I nod happily before settling down on the saddle and falling asleep, because none of us has had any rest last night.

I just hope that tomorrow we can somewhat relax, well, later today that is.

* * *

**Review or I'll sic Zuko on you!**


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